Book Review: Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors

Module 3

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sidman, Joyce. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for children, 2009. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. ISBN 978-0-547-01494-4

2. PLOT SUMMARY

In this book, Sidman takes the reader through the four seasons, describing each season based on its colors. In the spring you can hear red birds singing and white thunderstorms, in the summer you will find many different shades of green in the trees and different shades of blue in the water, in the fall green gladly gives way to brown and red apples are ready to eat, and in the winter fingers and cheeks turn pink with cold and red birds sing.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Sidman and Zagarenski combine their efforts to show that within each season, our senses respond to different colors. Sidman creates imagery with her language by using very descriptive wording. For example, “Red whispers along my finger with little beetle feet” describes a ladybug. However, the wording “whispers” indicates that the ladybug is gently crawling on her finger and “little beetle feet” can help the reader imagine the slight tickling sensation they might feel if a ladybug were on their finger. Sidman has captured the essence of colors in the seasons and how we feel, see, smell, taste, and hear them. 

Zagarenski’s unique style compliments the descriptive language of the poetry and puts the words into pictures. The illustrations will benefit young readers in interpreting the meaning of the poetry. For example, “Brown gleams in my hand: a tiny round house, dolloped with roof” may be difficult for young readers to understand. However, by glancing at the character on the page, the reader will see that she is holding an acorn and can associate that description with it. There are techniques that are not commonly used in illustrations. The main character is pale faced and her outfit changes with each page to represent the color of the season that is being described. Characters have crowns above their heads, including little birds. The name of the season or the color is also written in some of the illustrations. For fall, there are leaves on the ground and “Fall” is written inside each leaf in a manner similar to a newspaper. The illustrations are truly unique and leave the reader continually searching for hidden details.

4. AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

*Starred Review from School Library Journal: “This is an important book both for its creativity and for its wisdom.”

*Starred Review from Horn Book: "A poet known for multilayered explorations of nature rejoices here in the way colors, and how we perceive them, change with the seasons . . .[with] the playfulness of the text and its sense of awe, mystery, and beauty."

* 2010 Caldecott Honor Award

*Horn Book Fanfare

*Claudia Lewis Poetry Award

5. CONNECTIONS

*Read other poetry books by Joyce Sidman:

Sidman, Joyce. DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT. ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8

Sidman, Joyce. BUTTERFLY EYES AND OTHER SECRETS OF THE MEADOW. ISBN 978-0618563135

Sidman, Joyce. SONG OF THE WATER BOATMAN AND OTHER POND POEMS. ISBN 978-0618135479

*After reading the book, re-read the section on your current season. Take students outside and see how many of the colors they can find. What new colors do they see, hear, taste, smell, or feel?

*Sidman used colors to describe the seasons. Some of the colors were used in multiple seasons, and others were not. For example, red was found in each season but brown was only found in fall and winter. Have the students discover whether or not they can find all of the colors for all of the seasons.